The first in-person climate negotiations this year – and the precursor to COP27 in Egypt - took place in Bonn from 6th June to 16th June. QUNO’s Human Impacts of Climate Change programme was present as part of the RINGO constituency, joining the two-week meeting of Member States and representatives of civil society, Indigenous Peoples, business, and youth from around the world.

Our June 2022 newsletter shares updates from the work carried out by our New York office over recent months. Highlights include: a Q&A article on questions about the war in Ukraine and the UN; information on a new QUNO initiative on Youth, Peace and Security; the publication of our policy document, Building Peace in Times of Crisis; and news about staff comings and goings. Also hear from our new Director, Sarah Clarke, in her Director’s letter where she reflects on the state of multilateralism and the long commitment of Quaker witness at the UN.

On 5th May 2022, QUNO Geneva’s Representative for Peace and Disarmament, Florence Foster, was an expert speaker at the virtual launch of UNIDIR’s Arms-Related Risk Analysis Toolkit. The Toolkit is designed to guide efforts to integrate conventional arms and ammunition-related risks into conflict analysis and conflict prevention, management, and resolution efforts.

QUNO New York Director, Sarah Clarke, joined speakers from the Mennonite and Church of the Brethren communities at the virtual panel presentation, “The Historic Peace Churches: Integrating Theology and Practice for Peacebuilding,” hosted by George Mason University during the School’s Spring Peace Week. In her presentation, Sarah shared a view on how the Quaker Peace Testimony guides the work of Friends at the United Nations.

QUNO, speaking as the Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC), made 35 oral interventions and 11 written submissions at the 56th session of the IPCC, which can be read here.  From 21 March to 4 April, government delegations and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) met virtually to approve the Summary for Policy Makers (SPM) of the Climate Change 2022: Mitigation. The

The Quaker United Nations Office was invited to take part in an intergenerational discussion in September 2019, at which experienced conciliators and younger peace activists came together to share learning and consider how to take the work forward with renewed energy. A taster of who was at the event can be found in this video.

At the 49th Session of the Human Rights Council, Florence Foster, QUNO’s Representative for Peace and Disarmament delivered a statement to welcome OHCHR report 49/88 on the contribution of [...] all human rights [...] to achieving the purposes and upholding the principles of the UN Charter. 

Florence Foster, Representative for Peace & Disarmament at QUNO Geneva, had the pleasure of speaking to the Council on Christian Approaches to Defence and Disarmament (CCADD) over a lunch time event on ‘Small Arms Exports, Leadership and Accountability: A Human Rights Perspective’.

Acknowledging the strong momentum and action around issues of plastics pollution and marine plastics litter, QUNO participated in an informal discussion with stakeholders engaged in the work of the WTO's Informal Dialogue on Plastic Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade (IDP). The meeting was convened by the IDP co-coordinators, and facilitated by Forum on Trade, Environment, & the SDGs.